Repeat after me.

I know you guys are tired of seeing this picture, but I promise, it's a new one.  They just all look the same.  We haven't watched Little House in a bit.  With lots of tears, we finished the last of the series and we've been catching up on other "stuff".  But tonight I was desperate for some Ma and Pa so we watched the pilot episode (which isn't part of the regular series).

The minute the theme music started, Toccoa was front and center.  And for 90 minutes, she sat there, watching as intently as I was.

I did it!!

It's been three months.  Ninety days.  Two thousand, one hundred and sixty hours.  One hundred twenty nine thousand and six hundred minutes.

I'm a quitter.

I've officially made it.

In my head, if I could make it three months, I could make it forever.  

And here we are.

Thanks you to everyone that has dealt with the mood swings, the tears and the grumpy moments.

I did it for you.

Happy Sunday!

An eventful day in the Thomas house.  Everything from work, to skeet shooting, to cappuccino potato chips and an open house!

A little bit of everything that kept us all busy and now pooped out.  It's going to be a big week for all of us so we'll have some great updates....

Stay tuned!

Happy Saturday :D

Yes.  I've raised a fashion statement.  Shirt, shorts, camo boots.

And when they're on the way to the junkyard (yep, the junkyard) these are the snapchats I get.  Lovely faces, huh?

And just a little secret?  I live for those messages!

Cautiously optimistic.

That's the mantra of the day.

An awesome showing, with hopes of a repeat visit tomorrow.

So after you finish lunch with one of your favorite guys, where do you go?

To the lake to wait out the showing.

Hopefully, not much longer and this will be our view.

No particular order.

Sometimes, I really just run out of things to say.  Not because my minds not going a mile a minute, but because I'm positive that I've said it all before.  Or I don't have a picture to match.  Or I'm pretty sure you just don't want to hear about it.

So tonight, here's whats on my mind...in no particular order and with no picture to go with it.

I miss Will.  This is the second weekend in a row that he's gone.  Although we switched weekends so that we could all go camping next week, it still pains me to see him two days in two weeks.  I'm pretty sure they don't believe me, but it really does hurt my heart.  Dear heavens, what am I going to do when he leaves for college?

Hunter has two weekends left until he returns to school.  Where the heck did the summer go?  I swear that January was 100 days long and June was 3.

We have a showing tomorrow.  If willing someone to buy the house works, we should have an offer about 2 minutes after they leave.

Mom and Michele are in Caseville.  I hope they're having a ball...and I really wish that I had gone.  The timing didn't work out, but I'd give anything to be on the beach, with my toes in the lake pretending I was 5 again.

Lastly, I miss my dad.  I know that I'm not supposed to talk about it..or blog about it.  I'm sure that I'm breaking hearts as I type this.  But I want the boys to know and remember that although I don't ever say it out loud, it doesn't mean that I don't feel.  Sometimes, just acknowledging it makes it a little easier to breathe.

And now that I've convinced everyone that I'm sad, please know that is farthest from the truth.

If everything works out, I'm going to sneak away with Will for lunch tomorrow.  And while I'll miss the boys this weekend, a quiet weekend with Jeff is just what the doctor ordered.  I always breathe a little easier snuggled up watching movies.  And a showing is a showing.  It's one more family that may fall in love with the house and love it as much as we do.   And living vicariously through Michele is almost as good as being there...the pictures make me smile.

So my parting thoughts for the night?  Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

What's waiting for us.

Yesterday, we announced the closing of the studio.

Today, we are just 3 weeks away from closing on the new house.

Tomorrow.  Well, I'm just not sure what tomorrow brings.

What I do know is that as long as we do it together, we'll get through.

Work. Work. Work.

Hunters finishing up his last projects and preparing for his last two weeks of work.  Will is trying to get as many hours in as possible since school starts back in three short weeks.  Jeff is in the midst of audit responses and seriously, those are no fun.  And I have at least 800 tags to get out this week.  Since I cut six at a time, I've got a million hours of cutting ahead of me.

So for a short break this evening, we headed to "The Duck House".  Just a few minutes on the lake reminded me that all of the headache will be worth it.  And it took Jeff about two minutes to spot the ducks.  Hunter was scoping out the gazebo and determining the perfect area for a fire pit.

We're ready.

Yippeeee! It's done!

All the hard work is done and it has definitely paid off!  

The day we set foot on the camp site, we had a plan (big surprise!).  It took us two full weekends to complete but oh, we love it!  Thank you, Jeff, for all of your hard work.  I know it wasn't easy!  And thank you, Hunter for your work this weekend.  Again, I know it wasn't easy...although you two made it look that way!

The gates are down and we finally have the inviting, open site we envisioned.  Now we just need to sell the house so we can spend every weekend there!

 

Puppy Selfie!

Awwww!

This just melts my heart.  It came with a message that says "Hi Mom.  Miss u".

Who knew Toccoa could text?

Ohhhhh!

It was one of those days again!  

Will was at Warped Tour.  I left for camp.  Jeff spent the day working and Hunter...well he spent the day painting.  Yep, you heard me right.  He was painting.

I'm just hoping that I can keep it!

Look at his talent!

It's not FAIR!

We must be the worst parents in the world!  It wasn't until tonight that I realized that Will hadn't EVER been to the county fair!

Thankfully, some friends and Hunter decided to take care of that and off they went.  Sweet tea and a tug a truck...what more could you ask for?

Scheduling change.

Due to an unscheduled raccoon visit, this blog has been cancelled and will return tomorrow at it's normally scheduled time.  Hopefully, with pictures!

Happy Birthday, Hunterman!

Twenty years, can you believe it?  I'm pretty sure it was just a few weeks ago that we were celebrating his 10th birthday...the big double digit day.  Yet here we are, ten years later, and again I find myself at a loss for words.  I feel old, but yet not too old.  He feels older, but just not quite old enough.  

I've been trying to write this one for hours now, and each time, I find myself looking back and wondering where all the years went.  How fast they flew by.  And how excited I am for the ones that are still around the corner.  No one told me that each year, it'd get a little better.  No one told me that his first real job would be more exciting than his first steps or his first words.  It's hard to believe that he's gone from diapers to one of my closest friends.  

At twenty, I didn't know the first thing about being a mom.  Looks like we've both grown a lot since then!

Do what you gotta do!

Don't send a man to do a woman's job!  And all these years, Jeff thought I didn't do windows!

Oh my!

Lately, life has been a little chaotic and I occasionally forget the small, funny moments to share.  This is definitely one of them.

So we were camping on the 4th and Will is at home....alone.  This is the snapchat that I get from him.  Let me tell you how thankful I was that I was out of town when he left the house dressed like that!  And much love to the people that were with him.

A little pep talk.

Some days I need a pep talk.  And on some of those days, its up to me to provide it!  

While everyone else is planning and packing, I'm panicking.  Change isn't my thing.  The thought of leaving our home is terrifying.  If you don't live with anxiety, you just can't imagine.  I'm not sharing this for sympathy.  Everyone that lives with me knows it just comes with the territory.  

But as the days pass and the people pass through our home, I know that moving day is just a little bit closer.  And my chest gets heavier and breathing becomes a little more difficult to do.  Tears are more frequent and sleep is becoming less and less.  It's funny because I know that I'll survive, that change is a part of life and that after a period of time, I'll be settled and comfortable in our new home.  But today, I'm scared that I'll never feel at home anywhere again.

Not much of a pep talk, huh?  Don't worry, everyone gets a little "freaky" on occasion, I just happen to do it more often than most of you.  But there's always something that reminds even me that everything will be ok.  Most of the time, it's Jeff.  But today, it was this.  

Enough already.

Tick.  Tock.

Tick.  Tock.

That's the sound I hear all day long....just waiting for the phone to ring with a home showing.  We're trying to work, we're trying to go on as normal.  But dear heavens, this is hard.  

So if you can, say a little prayer or send some good vibes (or a qualified buyer) our way.  We're all ready for this to be over.

Ups and Downs

The downside of nine weeks of being a non-smoker?  The ten extra pounds that have rendered my summer shorts collection completely useless.

The upside?  Trying to keep myself busy in the evening has finally resulted in crochet success!

So name your project!  I'll start your Christmas present now, lol!

This is the one I made for myself!  Unfortunately, I forgot about the ten extra pounds so it'll be a little bit before it fits :(

Happy campers!

How come work at camp is never as tedious as work at home?  Maybe it's because cleaning the camper is a five minute job.  Maybe it's because the yard is about 1/10th of the size of our yard.  Or maybe, it's just because it's at camp!!

A long weekend was just what the doctor ordered.  Staying up late and sleeping in later was just what Jeff needed. Throw in a few golf cart rides, a "happy camper" breakfast and a few movies and you have the perfect weekend.  And in between all of the fun, we managed to get a little work in too.  The back fence is down (and that was a PROJECT!), the outdoor lighting is all fixed, the camper is clean and the gnats are adios!  

We're back and full of smiles and yawns.  There isn't a better kind of tired.  So although I've said it before, I'll say it again.  Thank you, Jeffrey for our home away from home.  Can't wait until we head back!!

Happy 4th!

Happy Fourth of July!!!  I should be out watching the fireworks, but we've had enough excitement over the last few weeks so we're taking the time to unwind instead.

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful day!

Oh what a night!

So lets start with watching the last episode of Little House on the Praise that had Michael Landen in it was a no win situation for Jeff.  Tears and heartbreak...that's all I can say.

Second, watching any television show that centers around leaving the "family home" is just not a good idea right now.

Thankfully, Michele left me a few extra Rumchata shots...so the evening is starting to look up.  Of course, it couldn't look any worse after the stench in the camper when we arrived, the lovely infestation of gnats or the power outage.  What a great day!

Away we go.

We're getting ready to split up for the weekend.  Jeff and I are heading to camp, Hunter is heading to Columbus and Will is staying home to get in some hours at work.  It saddens me that holiday weekends we used to live for are now weekends we all make our own plans and head our seperate ways.  I would cherish an extra weekend or two that we could spend together.  I know that not everyone takes advantage of their time with the boys....but I don't understand it.  I'd give my right arm for another evening, another weekend, another holiday or another vacation.  I hope the boys know that.  I just hope they know that they are loved ..... even if we're all a hundred miles apart.

Girl on Fire!

I swear, I've never seen someone as memorized by a flame as the puppy.  Thanks to a short lived power outage, we were forced to light every candle in the house.  But this one, it keeps the puppy staring, long after the lights are back on.

Jeff and I giggled at her all night long.  She would stare, set her head on the table, stare some more.  After a few minutes, she'd lose interest.  For a second.  Then she was back and staring again.

I wish I had an attention span that long!!